1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealing arrangement for roll bearings in skin pass mill stands in which the roll neck has a tapered portion extending between the end face of the roll and the portion of the roll neck which is provided with a neck sleeve and is supported in a bearing bushing in the bearing housing. The arrangement includes an annular, flexible sealing member constructed in one piece and reinforced by means of a wire rope ring and possibly a steel strip. The sealing member is slid onto the tapered portion of the roll neck and rests on the tapered portion with annular sealing projections. An outer annular end of at least one of two axially spaced radially extending, elastic annular ribs can be placed into elastic frictional contact with at least one annular sealing surface which is rigidly connected to a lid of the housing and, thus, to the housing and is arranged laterally of an annular flange rigidly connected to the housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German patent No. 27 31 313 discloses a sealing arrangement for skin pass mill stands in which the annular rib on the side of the roll extends approximately to an annular projection of a stationary annular body. An oil discharge bore is arranged in the same radial plane as the annular rib.
The long annular rib which rotates during operation of the mill has the result that the oil particles which passed the annular rib and the annular lip connected to the annular rib on the side of the bearing housing cannot come to rest and cannot flow through the oil discharge bore into an oil sump duct, rather, these particles are continuously whirled up. Even those particles which are already in the oil discharge bore are whirled out of the oil discharge bore by the annular rib rotating directly above the opening of the bore.
Moreover, in the known sealing arrangement, the danger exists that oil particles which are forced outwardly along the wall of the annular rib as a result of the centrifugal force can continue to travel at the end of the annular rib along the surface thereof and, thus, may leave the region of the oil discharge bore. These oil particles can then easily reach the roll surface where they negatively influence the quality of the rolled material.
Very high oil temperatures may occur during operation. When the oil is boiling, oil vapors rise from the oil sump and reach the roll through the oil discharge bore.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a sealing arrangement for skin pass mill stands in which no oil can travel from the bearing region of the roll to the surface of the roll.